BALTIMORE (AP) — Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said Aaron Hicks missed a hit-and-run sign when Gunnar Henderson was caught stealing in the ninth inning of the AL Division Series opener.
With Baltimore down by a run, Henderson led off with a single but was thrown out at second while Hicks was batting. The Orioles went on to lose 3-2 on Saturday to the Texas Rangers. Hyde said after the game there was a “miscommunication" on the play.
Prior to Game 2, Hyde clarified.
“We just missed a hit-and-run sign there,” he said Sunday. “Hicksy has been wonderful for us this entire season in so many ways. We do put runners in motion, we have to do things, we don’t hit a ton of homers, trying to generate offense a little bit at times. And we bunt, we do the little things. And yesterday we just missed a sign in the ninth inning there.”
The Orioles had the leadoff man on in the final three innings but couldn't score. They didn't have a baserunner after Henderson was thrown out stealing.
“That didn’t cost us the game. We had opportunities to score before that,” Hyde said. “We need to start taking a little bit of pressure off our pitchers and scoring earlier in the game, those type of things. Yesterday we just didn’t execute in the time that we have this season.”
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